One Night
by Dark Card Mistress
Summary: John wants to know what happened to her necklace. Missing scenes from 'Intruder'


_A/N: Has anyone else noticed that after 'Intruder' that Liz doesn't wear her necklace anymore? This is my take on why she doesn't. Also, there's a reference from BtVS in the episode 'Empty Places', the scene with Spike and Andrew on Spike's bike._

**One Night**

"I should be going then." Elizabeth looked at the now extinguished candle. She didn't understand why she should be so surprised, she told Simon to forget about her. 'I guess I thought he would have waited longer.'

She strode past him, not letting him see the disappointment in her eyes, and directly to the room they shared. Funny really. All those nights they spent sleeping in the same bed together for the past week and a half, and he only brings up the fact that he was seeing someone else now.

She gathered her bags that sat at the base of the double bed and took them into each of her hands. She was hoping that they would leave either tonight or tomorrow morning to the SGC since they wouldn't be having time if they came on the day they departed for Atlantis.

She brought her bags downstairs and dropped them in front of the door. Simon didn't stop watching her from the moment she came down. The house was rather big; a large lower level with the kitchen, bathroom, lounge room and dining room while upstairs was just their bedroom and a spare bathroom. Next to the entrance she was standing in was a phone. She turned to Simon.

"Do you mind if I use the phone?"

"Elizabeth…" Simon was cut off with the dialing of the phone.

Elizabeth was using Simon's phone since she cancelled her own mobile, what with her being in Atlantis for years at a time. She quickly dialed the phone and called for a taxi. Once she put the headset down, she turned to Simon one last time.

"Sorry that I wasted your time." She turned around and pulled the door open. A gush of wind blew them back a bit but Elizabeth firmly planted her feet on the floor, unmoving. It was pouring outside.

"Let me at least drive you to the SGC."

"They wouldn't let you in so I might as well get a taxi." She kneeled down to rummage around in one of her bags and pulled out an umbrella. She now held one bag in one hand with the other looped around the arm that was holding the umbrella.

"What about Sedge?"

Elizabeth paused before she turned around. "Would you mind taking care of him when I'm not on Earth? I'll probably come only once a year so you don't need to worry about me coming around a lot." Simon merely nodded, knowing that she wouldn't really listen to him anyways.

"Goodbye Simon."

She didn't bother closing the door after her since she had no free hands so Simon just watched her walk down the driveway, past their car and out their gate, now his car and his gate. She knew that if she took Sedge that when Rodney found out that she did, he would complain about him not being able to bring his cat.

She waited for five minutes or so in the rain before the taxi pulled up in front of her. She got in and the taxi drove away, away from the past.

When she got to the gates of the SGC, she paid the driver fairly and quickly walked to the guards since she couldn't be bothered opening her umbrella again. She swiped her card and walked through the terminal.

"Welcome back Doctor." Elizabeth gave the airman a small smile before slipping into the elevator and going deep underground.

When she arrived at her level, she got out and walked down the corridor until she reached to her guest room. She pulled out the key and let herself in, dropping her bags onto the ground as the door closed behind her. She was a bit wet now and decided to change out of her wet formal clothes, back into her Atlantis uniform. It was 2200 and since she didn't have dinner with Simon in the end, she went to the commissary to see what she could dig out. The other Atlantis members that came to Earth would be arriving tomorrow morning since they would be leaving the day after tomorrow.

The commissary was relatively deserted with the exception of a couple of people. She took a tray and picked up whatever food there was left before finding a table for her. She turned around with a tray full of food and nearly bumped into someone.

"John? What are you doing here?" Shock was evident on her face.

"Well, to eat really since that _is_ what the commissary is for," John said cheekily. John brushed past her and too piled his tray with food. Elizabeth waited for him before they settled with the table on the far left of the room.

Elizabeth looked at John pointedly. "You know what I meant."

"Well since I don't really have any relatives to visit, I stayed on base. Besides, that ceremony you guys gave me preoccupied me. I'm a Lieutenant Colonel now!"

"Yes, you are Colonel." Elizabeth smiled as she stabbed her fork into her salad.

"Anyways, what about you? I thought you were going to come in with the others tomorrow."

"Well the thought of the rush of people coming in at the same time put me off." Well it was half the truth at least.

"Yeah, I'm surprised that McKay isn't here." They chuckled. Rodney didn't like big crowds unless it was in his honor. "Which reminds me, you going to the presidential ball tomorrow night?"

"I wouldn't call it a presidential ball, John." He cocked his brow as he ate some chicken.

"What would you call it then?"

Elizabeth paused with her spoon full of jello brought in front of her mouth. "A gathering." She ate the jello.

John didn't look too impressed. "Uh huh, a gathering that required formal dresses and dress blues," John said dryly.

"Well President Hayes wanted to personally congratulate us individually for just surviving the Wraith. We have to be there John since we're one of the main people."

A sigh of defeat was heard. "I'm really not one for these formal 'gatherings'." He held up two fingers on each hand as he said 'gatherings'.

Elizabeth laughed. "I bet Rodney was ecstatic when he heard about it."

"You have no idea," came a mumble from John.

* * *

Elizabeth looked at herself in the full-length mirror on the inside of the wardrobe door. She was wearing a simple two-piece dark red dress with black heels with straps around her ankle, not that anyone would see it since her dress went down to the ground. 

Her top consisted of crimson material with a black layer of see-through black material sewn over. The dress had black trimmings and straps to suit the dress. The skirt was made of the same materials and color, only the difference was that there was small plastic fake diamonds sewn into the inside red material near the bottom of the dress. Elizabeth didn't really care that there were fake, she just saw this dress and fell in love with it earlier today when she went out looking for a dress she could wear to the ball.

She left her jewelry at Simon's house knowing that she wouldn't really wear it and also Simon had bought it for her so she thought it was best to leave it with him. So now, the only jewelry she had was now lying on her neck. It was a necklace with silver wiring that came out in all directions that it made it look unique. They were also fake crystals of dark red and clear decorating the wire making it look gorgeous yet simple.

After looking herself one more time in the mirror and silent proclaiming that she looked fine, she grabbed her matching scarf and purse and went out to meet John. They had agreed to meet up and go there together since they both would be going, saved time and fuel and because everyone had decided to either leave sooner or later or not go at all.

Elizabeth now waited near the elevator on the guest quarters level with her scarf wrapped around her arms since it was getting a bit chilly and she was used to wearing the Atlantis uniform, which had long sleeves. She didn't have to wait long for John Sheppard came sauntering down the hall and my did he look good in his dress blues.

John stopped in front of Elizabeth. "How do I look?" He looked gorgeous is what she wanted to say, but she found that a bit too feminine for him. Pretty? Rakish? That only described his hair though.

Finally she settled with handsome. "Handsome, like usual." She hadn't expected herself saying the last part. She clicked the elevator button and looked straight ahead at the closed doors. John took the chance to survey her.

She looked stunning to him. Her hair hadn't changed much but he did notice that it didn't look as curly, now wavy with curls at the end. With the heels she had on now, her height matched hers and was now merely centimeters from his height. She only had eyeliner on but he had a sneaking suspicion that she tinted her lips with some sort of cosmetic to make it look fuller than normal, kissable basically but he shook that thought away without a thought.

"Thank you and you too look beautiful, as usual of course." Elizabeth tried not to blush as she smiled at him with him smiling back cheekily as the elevator door open, signaling that it had arrived.

* * *

Elizabeth stood by the punch table as she watched President Hayes talk to Rodney, Carson and John but from the looks of it, it looked like John wanted to get away from the conversation. He caught her eye and excused himself from the conversation and waltzed over to her. 

"Not one for presidential conversations, Colonel?" Elizabeth took a sip of her champagne that she got when she first walked into the room. The room was large with marble floors and a chandelier in the middle of the ceiling, with a doorway leading to the foyer that lead to the stairs that lead them to the upper levels of the house. The gathering was held at the presidents house itself.

"Oh I'm all for conversations, just not formal ones. Besides, I had to get away from Rodney's gloating." Elizabeth chuckled next to him as they surveyed the room together.

SG-1 was there as well, celebrating their victory over the Goa'uld. Jack and Sam was chatting together in their dress blues near the stairs, probably catching up on old times, while Teal'c was chatting to some other general. Since the gathering was for people who knew about the Stargate and all it's glory, Teal'c didn't need to wear his hat to cover his Jaffa sign. Daniel's exact location was unknown to them.

"You know, I've gotten a tired of this scene. How bout we go blow this Popsicle stand and go have some fun…maybe some food?"

Elizabeth licked her lips at the thought of leaving. "Sure, why not?" Usually she wouldn't have thought of leaving such a gathering but since the past days for her have been a bit down hill, she tossed the thought out of the window.

She wrapped her scarf around her neck since it would be a bit cold outside, and together they left the host's house. They had gone to the gathering in one of the trucks that the SGC had leant to them since there really wouldn't be any use to own a car when you wouldn't be using it. Their truck, a Hummer, was parked right near the entrance so it was easy to locate. After buckling up with John behind the wheel, they drove off to get some food.

So now they were sitting in a fast food restaurant cubicle, standing quite out with their formal wear, with drinks and their food in front of them.

"Well this is _very_ different to the food back on Atlantis," Elizabeth said as she held up a curly fry. She ripped the top part off since she wasn't going to make a fool of herself trying to eat the whole thing in front of John.

"Yeah, it would be pretty funny though if we served these on Atlantis. Rarely though or else we'd have a bit of trouble out running the Wraith. Like 'em?" Elizabeth giggled at that statement.

"They're pretty good." She popped the piece in her mouth. "Never really ate these as a child."

"Really? You should try these onion blossom things."

Elizabeth looked wearily at the food in question on his plate. "How do you think they keep it that shape?" She ripped apiece off and held it in front of him.

John grinned. "See, the genius of it is you soak it in ice water for an hour so it holds its shape. Then you deep-fry it root-side up for about 5 minutes." He saw the blank look on her face so he leaned over and took the food from her hand with his mouth.

Elizabeth stared at him as he chewed on the onion blossom. "And you know this…how?"

"I worked at one of these places when I was a kid."

She couldn't take it anymore she burst out laughing. John, who was about to take a drink, broke out into a full grin and started to laugh with her. After a while, they finally got their composure and John decided it was time to ask a couple of questions that had been on his mind for almost two days now. He would never have thought to ask her this when she was on duty but since she was in a carefree mood, he thought 'what the hey?'

"Elizabeth?"

She hummed. "Mmhm?"

"How come you're not wearing your other necklace? I've never seen you take it off before so this is a first."

Elizabeth raised her brow. "Why the sudden curiosity?"

"Well it started when I came across the call sheet on who was staying in which room and I saw that your name plus guest. Also, you seemed pretty bummed out yesterday."

"And this all comes back to the necklace, how?" She was hoping he'd drop the question but she knew that she'd have to talk about it sooner or later.

"Well something obviously happened since you came alone. Wanna talk about it?"

She sighed and thought, 'Might as well be him that I talk to.'

"The guest that was meant to sign in with me was my boyfriend, Simon," Elizabeth said quietly.

"Boyfriend? And he stuck around for a whole year?" John raised his brows and Elizabeth shot him a glare.

"No, not really. I told him on the day that I left the first time that I might not come back. I told him on the tape I sent home that he should continue with his life and he did. I guess I wished that there was someone back here for me to come back to."

John felt a pang in his heart and sudden guilt for even asking the question in the first place. "Sorry."

She shook her head. "It's alright. He gave me the necklace I always wore and so when I left I guess it was prudent for me to leave behind all my things that aren't really a necessity on Atlantis, that sort of included my jewellery."

"A girl needs to indulge herself once in a while. It's okay for you to wear a necklace."

"Not one from my ex."

"True."

"And I don't have time to go out looking for one so-"

John cut her off. "Why don't you just go and get the jewellery back that yours…that you bought that is."

She paused for a moment. "I can't do that. To go back just to get jewellery that I don't really need or wear."

"Too formal for work?"

"You think?"

John chuckled at the statement. "Okay, I see your point."

"Enough about me. What about you? I expected that a man like yourself would have someone to come home to."

"Well as you already know from reading my file, my parents died when I was younger so that rules out them."

"Friends? Own apartment? Loved ones?"

"Most of my friends that I have left is at work, I've been living in Antarctica for the past months before I met you so I thought it would be pretty stupid to have a flat when I wouldn't be living in it. As for loved ones, I don't have many relatives, much less close ones, and no girlfriends, if that's what you were hinting at." He grinned.

Elizabeth raised her hands and said, "I was just asking a question. It must be your imagination to think I was hinting at something."

As they were talking one of the late night cleaners came to clean their mess. The cleaner looked once at their formal wear before turning around, pushing the trolley that he had with him to collect the dishes, and muttered, "Why would anyone dress so formally just to come here?"

Once the cleaner was out of hearing range, they started laughing quietly, avoiding any unwanted attention. Elizabeth was the first to come to her senses and groaned inwardly when she noticed the time.

"We better get going back to base since we have to be getting up…fairly early to get ready for that three week trip set for us."

"Joy."

"Yep, I can hardly contain my excitement," Elizabeth said, sarcastically.

* * *

It was 0900 and Dr. Elizabeth Weir got out of the car that she shared with Lt. Colonel John Sheppard, and stood outside the entrance of a door. There were two guards outside guarding the door so Elizabeth came up with John and showed her ID before swiping it next to the door. The doors parted to reveal the inside of an elevator as the two stepped inside. The doors closed, taking the sight of the desolate desert where the Daedalus was located. 

The two leaders stood in comfortable silence before John turned to Elizabeth, who looked at him questioningly.

John bent down so that his face was in front of hers. Their faces were so close together that Elizabeth thought that he was going to kiss her, so she was surprised when she felt something in her hand. She looked down and saw in her hand was a small clear zip bag with some sort of silver metal inside. Elizabeth looked up at John again and he leaned over and kissed her on her cheek.

"You shouldn't frown so much and smile more. Hope this is fine since I had such short notice to get it."

It took a while for Elizabeth to register that he was talking about the metal that was in her hand, not the kiss on the cheek. She opened the bag and tipped out the content into her hand. She then held it up and saw that it was a necklace with a silver, rectangular slate that was cool on her hands. On the slate was 'Elizabeth' engraved in block letters.

John continued. "Short of you actually joining the military, this is the closest necklace I could think of that would suit our working conditions. You can put it on and take off just as easily and you don't have to worry about it rusting," John said, proudly. "Oh, and I'm not implying that you have to join the Air Force or anything."

"Of course not. Thank you though, for the necklace. You didn't have to but you did." Elizabeth smiled and looped the necklace around her neck.

"Anytime." With that statement, the elevator signalled that they were at the level desired with a high ding. When the doors opened, they saw that there was a flurry of madness as all of the scientists and military officers were busily carrying crates and whatnot.

Elizabeth sighed and said, "Back to Atlantis."

* * *

_"Still, it must have been pleasant to return to Earth, a chance to reunite with your friends and loved ones."_

Those words that Teyla said didn't leave her mind as she looked at the necklace with her name on it. She smiled. It was nighttime on Atlantis and mostly everyone was asleep, aside from her who was reading up on some of the new changes on Atlantis since they installed the ZPM. A knock on the glass pane made her look up.

"Aren't you meant to be asleep?" John sat down in the chair in front of her and tossed her a small ice-cream tub and plastic soon. Once he got comfortable in his chair, he dug into his that he also brought along.

"I could say the same for you and what is this?"

"This is your break and hopeful plea for you to go to sleep for the night."

"Reports need to be read John."

"And Atlantis won't blow up just because you go to sleep on the first day back at work."

Elizabeth sighed in defeat. "Okay fine, I'll take your break then go to sleep."

John smiled in triumph as he took a bite out of his now melting ice cream. Elizabeth smiled to herself as she stuck her spoon into the cold substance.

'Yes, it was pleasant to return to Earth.'

fin

* * *

Please Review

Dark Card Mistress


End file.
